Trial starts in kids' forced Grand Canyon hikes

PHOENIX — A federal trial began Wednesday for an Indiana man
accused of forcing his grandsons to hike for miles in the Grand
Canyon without food or water in brutal August heat.

Christopher Alan Carlson, of Indianapolis, who is in his mid-40s,
has pleaded not guilty to six counts of child abuse.

Jury selection in his trial began Wednesday and was expected to
wrap up by Thursday. Opening statements from the prosecution and
defense will follow.

Judge Frederick Martone started questioning a pool of 56 jurors
whether they had heard about details of the case from the news
media.

A dozen people said they had heard about it on the news, and one of
them said the coverage combined with his own experience with abuse
at the hands of his father would affect his ability to be
impartial.

All the potential jurors are from northern Arizona’s Yavapai
County, requiring some to drive more than an hour to Phoenix for
the trial.

Martone explained to jurors that child abuse cases are typically
tried in county courts but that since the alleged crimes occurred
in a national park, this case is under federal jurisdiction.

Carlson’s grandsons — who were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time —
told investigators that Carlson hit, pushed, choked, and squeezed
them, and forced their fingers down their throats to make them
vomit during trips into the Grand Canyon.

A ranger with binoculars spotted the group on what would be the
last of the hikes on Aug. 28, when the temperature soared to 108
degrees and a man died on another trail from heat exposure. The
ranger reported seeing Carlson shoving the oldest boy and whipping
him with a rolled-up T-shirt.

Rangers fed the boys and gave them water after one showed symptoms
of heat stroke and the other two had signs of heat exhaustion and
dehydration. They were placed in the care of state Child Protective
Services.

Investigators said Carlson told them that the boys were overweight
and that he thought hiking the Grand Canyon would help get them
into shape.

“He told me that he loved his grandchildren very much, but at the
same time there were tough people in the world and his
grandchildren needed to be tough as well,” National Park Service
Special Agent Chris Smith said at the time.

Defense attorneys have questioned the boys’ statements, saying that
it seemed improbable that they could have gone on such a hike
without food and water.

The boy’s mother, Tara Danaher, of Indianapolis, sobbed at a court
hearing on Sept. 1 and said her children went on trips with Carlson
over the summer, including to Central America and Jamaica. She said
she talked with her children throughout the summer and that they
never expressed any concerns.

The highlight of the latest trip that included the Grand Canyon was
supposed to be Disneyland, she said.